Education support in Ileret

The Turkana Basin Institute has, since its inception of the community outreach program, been supporting needy but bright students in high school from both Turkana east and west. This year alone, the bursary scheme has seen 18 students from the illeret community supported in various secondary schools.

Aside from the students, TBI is currently paying for Nine (9) Teachers who help in the three primary schools . The number of government teachers is not sufficient enough to cater for the needs of these primary schools.

Last year, the community of Ileret took an initiative of setting up a high school. The nearest high school is some 200 kilometers from Ileret and thus there was need to take this step. The TBI bursary is currently supporting this school through paying the salaries of the four (4) teachers at the institution.

While the TBI fund provides an interim solution to the lack of teachers at the local schools, efforts are being made with local leadership to ensure that more government teachers are posted to these schools so that more of the funds allocated to the community can be used to support more needy students.
Supporting these schools means hundreds of students are getting education.

Below is a list with the name of schools, number of students at the schools and school populations:

School name

TBI supported teachers

Number of students

Ileret primary school

2

426

Telesgaye primary school and Ilolo nursery school

6 and 1 respectively

208 and 45 respectively

St. Gregory high school-illeret

4

16

The above table shows the trickle-down effect on students through supporting of the teachers. A school like Telesgaye for example is predominantly staffed with TBI-supported teachers.

Testimonials from former beneficiaries

A number of TBI supported students have since graduated from high school and some have been lucky through other means to join colleges. Below are testimonials from two former beneficiaries of this fund, one is a 22 year old girl currently pursuing a teaching course while the other is a 21 year old young man pursuing a course in community development.

My name is Steven Haate. I hail from Ileret. I am the first child in a family of nine siblings to get education. Both my parents have never gone to school but my father had a dream for me and that dream was for me to go to school. However, there were financial hurdles here and there just like in any typical Daasanach family who are primarily pastoralists. TBI bursary fund made it possible for me to get my high school education since this would have been impossible with my family background. I am currently undertaking a course in community development whose skills I will gain I hope to come and apply here back home. I ask TBI to continue the good work and deeply appreciate from the bottom of my heart what TBI has done in my life. Many many thanks.

My name is Sarah Heris, I am 21 years old. I am lucky to have been in the generation that was supported through the TBI bursary fund. My education would have been impossible were it not for this bursary. My dream of becoming a teacher would not have been met were it not for TBI. I am currently pursuing a teaching course in Muranga teachers college and hope to come back to Ileret to give back to the community. Thanks to TBI, this will happen soon.

St. Gregory High school-Ileret

This structure is currently being used as a secondary school. It is an old building which was formerly Ileret primary school. The school currently has 16 students. The four teachers are supported through the TBI community fund.